February 4
Events * 211 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies, leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons, Caracalla and Geta. * 362 - Roman Emperor Julian promulgates an edict that recognizes equal rights to all the religions in the Roman Empire. *960 - The coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu of Song, initiating the Song Dynasty period of China that would last more than three centuries. *1454 - In the Thirteen Years' War, the Secret Council of the Prussian Confederation sends a formal act of disobedience to the Grand Master. *1703 - In Edo (now Tokyo), 46 of the Forty-Seven Ronin commit seppuku (ritual suicide) as recompense for avenging their master's death. *1783 - American Revolutionary War: The United Kingdom formally declares that it will cease hostilities with the United States of America. *1789 - George Washington is unanimously elected to be the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College. *1792 - George Washington is unanimously elected to a second term as President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College. *1794 - The French legislature abolishes slavery throughout all territories of the French Republic. *1801 - John Marshall is sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States. *1810 - British Navy seizes Guadeloupe. *1825 - The Ohio Legislature authorizes the construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal and the Miami and Erie Canal. *1859 - Codex Sinaiticus discovered in Egypt. *1861 - American Civil War: In Montgomery, Delegates from six break-away U.S. states meet and form The Confederate States of America. *1899 - The Philippine-American War begins. *1915 - Germany establishes a submarine blockade around the UK and declares any vessel in it a legitimate target. *1932 - World War II: Japan occupies Harbin. *1936 - Radium E. becomes the first radioactive element to be made synthetically. *1941 - World War II: The United Service Organization (USO) is created to entertain American troops. *1943 - World War II: Battle of Stalingrad ends. *1945 - World War II: The Yalta Conference begin . *1948 - Ceylon (later renamed Sri Lanka) becomes independent within the British Commonwealth. *1957 - [[Wikipedia:USS Nautilus (SSN-571)|USS Nautilus]], the first nuclear-powered submarine, logs her 60,000th nautical mile, matching the endurance of the fictional ''Nautilus'' described in Jules Verne's novel "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea". *1966 - All Nippon Airways Boeing 727 jet plunges into Tokyo Bay, killing 133. *1969 - Yasser Arafat takes over as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization. *1974 - The Symbionese Liberation Army kidnaps Patty Hearst in Berkeley. *1976 - In Guatemala and Honduras an earthquake kills more than 22,000. *1980 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini names Abolhassan Banisadr as president of Iran. *1991 - The Baseball Hall of Fame votes to ban Pete Rose. *1992 - A Coup d'état is led by Hugo Chávez Frías, against Venezuelan President Carlos Andrés Pérez. *1996 - Major snowstorm paralyzes Midwestern United States, Milwaukee ties all-time record low temperature at -26°F (-22°C). *1997 - En route to Lebanon, two Israeli Sikorsky CH-53 troop-transport helicopters collide in mid-air over northern Galilee, Israel killing 73. *1997 - After at first contesting the results, Serbian President Slobodan Milošević recognizes opposition victories in the November 1996 elections. *1998 - An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter Scale in northeast Afghanistan kills more than 5,000. *1998 - While in Belgium, Bill Gates is assaulted by a Belgian man and hit in the face with a cream pie. *1999 - Hugo Chávez Frías, Venezuelan military and politician, is elected President of Venezuela. *1999 - Unarmed West African immigrant Amadou Diallo is shot dead by four plainclothes New York City police officers on an unrelated stake-out, inflaming race-relations in the city. *1999 - The New Carissa runs aground near Coos Bay *2000 - German extortionist Klaus-Peter Sabotta is jailed for life for attempted murder and extortion in connection with the sabotage of German railway lines. *2003 - The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is officially renamed to Serbia and Montenegro and adopts a new constitution. *2006 - A stampede occurs in the ULTRA Stadium near Manila killing 88.. Births *1524 - Luis de Camões, Portugal's greatest poet. (d. 1580) *1575 - Pierre de Bérulle, French cardinal and statesman (d. 1629) *1620 - Gustaf Bonde, Swedish statesman (d. 1667) *1646 - Hans Erasmus Aßmann, German statesman and poet (d. 1699) *1677 - Johann Ludwig Bach, German composer (d. 1731) *1688 - Pierre de Marivaux, French writer (d. 1763) *1725 - Dru Drury, English entomologist (d. 1804) *1746 - Tadeusz Kościuszko, Polish, Belarusian and Lithuanian national hero (d. 1817) *1778 - A. P. de Candolle, Swiss botanist (d. 1841) *1799 - Almeida Garrett, Portuguese writer (d. 1854) *1859 - Timofei Mikhailov, Russian revolutionary, member of Narodnaya Volya *1841 - Clément Ader, French aviation pioneer (d. 1926) *1846 - Nikolay Umov, Russian physicist (d. 1915) *1848 - Jean Aicard, French poet (d. 1921) *1849 - Jean Richepin, French poet (d. 1926) *1871 - Friedrich Ebert, German politician, 1st Reichspräsident of the Weimar Republic (d. 1925) *1873 - Étienne Desmarteau, Canadian athlete (d. 1905) *1875 - Ludwig Prandtl, German physicist (d. 1953) *1881 - Fernand Léger, French painter (d. 1955) *1892 - Andreu Nin, Catalan politician (d. 1937) * 1882 - E. J. Pratt, Canadian poet (d. 1964) *1895 - Nigel Bruce, English actor (d. 1953) *1896 - Friedrich Glauser, German-language Swiss writer (d. 1938) * 1896 - Friedrich Hund, German physicist (d. 1997) *1897 - Ludwig Erhard, 2nd Bundeskanzler of Germany (d. 1977) *1900 - Jacques Prévert, French poet and lyricist (d. 1977) *1902 - Charles Lindbergh, American pilot (d. 1974) * 1902 - Hartley Shawcross, British lawyer and politician (d. 2003) *1904 - MacKinlay Kantor, American writer (d. 1977) *1906 - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German theologian (d. 1945) * 1906 - Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer (d. 1997) *1908 - Julian Bell, British poet (d. 1937) *1912 - Ola Skjåk Bræk, Norwegian politician (d. 1999) * 1912 - Erich Leinsdorf, Austrian conductor (d. 1993) * 1912 - Byron Nelson, American golfer (d. 2006) * 1912 - Louis-Albert Cardinal Vachon, archbishop of Quebec (d. 2006) *1913 - Rosa Parks, American civil rights activist (d. 2005) *1914 - Alfred Andersch, German writer (d. 1980) *1915 - William Talman, American actor (1968) * 1915 - Norman Wisdom, English actor and comedian *1916 - Shah Maghsoud Sadegh Angha, 41st master of the Oveyssi-Shahmaghsoudi Sufi Order (d. 1980) *1917 - Yahya Khan, President of Pakistan (d. 1980) *1918 - Ida Lupino, English film actress and director (d. 1995) * 1918 - Luigi Pareyson, Italian philosopher (d. 1991) * 1918 - Janet Waldo, American actress *1921 - Betty Friedan, American feminist (d. 2006) * 1921 - K. R. Narayanan, President of India (d. 2005) *1923 - Conrad Bain, Canadian-born actor *1925 - Russell Hoban, American writer *1929 - Jerry Adler, American actor *1931 - Isabel Martínez de Perón, third wife of Argentine dictator Juan Perón *1935 - Martti Talvela, Finnish bass (d. 1989) *1936 - David Brenner, American comedian * 1936 - Gary Conway, American actor *1937 - David Newman, American filmmaker (d. 2003) *1940 - George Romero, American director, screenwriter and producer * 1940 - John Schuck, American actor *1941 - John Steel, British musician (The Animals) *1943 - Alberto João Jardim, Portuguese president of the regional government of Madeira * 1943 - Ken Thompson, American computer scientist *1944 - Florence LaRue, American singer (The Fifth Dimension) *1947 - Dan Quayle, 44th Vice President of the United States *1948 - Alice Cooper, American musician *1949 - Michael Beck, American actor *1950 - Pamela Franklin, British actress *1951 - Patrick Bergin, Irish actor * 1951 - Phil Ehart, American musician (Kansas) * 1951 - Dariush Eghbali, Iranian singer and musician * 1951 - Stan Papi, American baseball player *1952 - Lisa Eichhorn, American actress * 1952 - Jerry Shirley, drummer of rock band Humble Pie. * 1952 - Li Yinhe, Chinese sexologist *1953 - Kitaro, Japanese composer *1955 - Mikuláš Dzurinda, Slovak Prime minister *1957 - Don Davis, American composer * 1957 - Evan Wolfson, American attorney and activist *1958 - Tomasz Pacyński, Polish writer *1959 - Pamelyn Ferdin, American actress * 1959 - Lawrence Taylor, American football player *1960 - Tim Booth, British singer (James) * 1960 - Siobhan Dowd, British/Irish author (d. 2007) * 1960 - Jenette Goldstein, American actress * 1960 - Jonathan Larson, American composer (d. 1996) *1961 - Stewart O'Nan, American author * 1961 - Denis Savard, Canadian ice hockey player *1962 - Clint Black, American musician * 1962 - Michael Riley, Canadian actor *1963 - Pirmin Zurbriggen, Swiss skier *1964 - Noodles, American guitarist (The Offspring) *1965 - Jerome Brown, American football player (d. 1992) *1966 - Viatcheslav Ekimov, Russian cyclist * 1966 - Kyoko Koizumi, Japanese actress and singer *1967 - Sergei Grinkov, Russian figure skater (d. 1995) *1968 - Marko Matvere, Estonian actor *1969 - Duncan Coutts, Canadian bassist (Our Lady Peace) * 1969 - Dallas Drake, ice hockey player *1970 - Gabrielle Anwar, English actress *1971 - Rob Corddry, American actor and comedian * 1971 - Michael A. Goorjian, American actor *1972 - Giovanni Silva De Oliveira, Brazilian footballer *1973 - Oscar de la Hoya, Mexican-born boxer *1974 - Eric Townsend, American musician and record producer *1975 - Natalie Imbruglia, Australian musician and actress * 1975 - Konstantinos Nebegleras, Greek footballer *1976 - Cam'ron, American rapper *1977 - Gavin DeGraw, American musician *1978 - Danna Garcia, Colombian actress *1979 - Giorgio Pantano, Italian racing car driver *1981 - Jason Kapono, America professional basketball player * 1981 - Tom Mastny, Indonesian baseball player *1982 - Chris Sabin, American professional wrestler * 1982 - Tomas Vaitkus, Lithuanian professional road racing cyclist * 1982 - Kimberly Wyatt, American singer and dancer (Pussycat Dolls) *1984 - Mauricio Pinilla, Chilean footballer *1985 - Bug Hall, American actor *1987 - Lucie Šafářová, Czech tennis player *1988 - Eoin McDowell, Irish rugby player * 1988 - Alexandros Pagalis, Greek footballer * 1988 - Carly Patterson, American gymnast Deaths * 211 - Septimius Severus, Emperor of Rome (b. 146) * 708 - Pope Sisinnius * 856 - Rabanus Maurus, Bishop of Mainz * 869 - Saint Cyril, Greek missionary to the Slavs (b. 827) *1508 - Conrad Celtes, German humanist scholar (b. 1459) *1590 - Gioseffo Zarlino, Italian composer (b. 1517) *1615 - Dom Justo Takayama, Japanese warlord (b. 1552) * 1615 - Giovanni Battista della Porta, Italian physicist (b. 1535) *1694 - Nataliya Kyrillovna Naryshkina, Tsaritsa of Russia (b. 1651) *1713 - Anthony Ashley Cooper, English politician and philosopher (b. 1671) *1774 - Charles Marie de La Condamine, French mathematician and geographer (b. 1701) *1799 - Étienne-Louis Boullée, French architect (b. 1728) *1781 - Josef Mysliveček, Czech composer (b. 1737) *1894 - Adolphe Sax, Belgian instrument maker (b. 1814) *1905 - Louis-Ernest Barrias, French sculptor (b. 1841) *1928 - Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1853) *1933 - Archibald Sayce, English educator (b. 1846) *1936 - Wilhelm Gustloff, German leader of the Swiss Nazi party (b. 1895) *1940 - Nikolai Yezhov, Head of Soviet NKVD (b. 1895) *1943 - Frank Calder, the first NHL President (b. 1877) *1944 - Yvette Guilbert, French singer and actress (b. 1867) * 1944 - Arsen Kotsoyev, Russian writer (b. 1872) *1958 - Henry Kuttner, American author (b. 1915) *1959 - Una O'Connor, Irish actress (b. 1880) *1966 - Gilbert H. Grosvenor, American president of the National Geographic Society (b. 1875) *1967 - Albert Orsborn, 6th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1886) *1968 - Neal Cassady, American writer (b. 1926) *1969 - Thelma Ritter, American actress (b. 1905) *1974 - Satyendra Nath Bose, Indian physicist (b. 1894) *1975 - Louis Jordan, American musician (b. 1908) * 1975 - Howard Hill, American archer (b. 1899) *1977 - Brett Halliday, American writer (b. 1904) *1982 - Alex Harvey, Scottish musician (b. 1935) * 1982 - Georg Konrad Morgen, German judge (b. 1909) *1983 - Karen Carpenter, American singer and drummer (The Carpenters) (anorexia) (b. 1950) *1984 - Anna Anderson, claimant to the throne of Russia *1987 - Liberace, American musician (b. 1919) * 1987 - Carl Rogers, American psychologist (b. 1902) *1990 - Whipper Billy Watson, Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1917) *1992 - Lisa Fonssagrives, Swedish model (b. 1911) *1995 - Godfrey Brown, British athlete and teacher (b. 1915) * 1995 - Patricia Highsmith, American author (b. 1921) *2000 - Carl Albert, American politician, 54th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1908) * 2000 - Doris Coley, American singer (Shirelles) (b. 1941) * 2000 - Phil Tonken, American radio and television announcer (b. 1919) *2001 - J. J. Johnson, American jazz trombonist and composer (b. 1924) * 2001 - Iannis Xenakis, Greek composer and architect (b. 1922) *2002 - George Nader, American film and television actor (b. 1921) *2003 - Charlie Biddle, Canadian jazz bassist (b. 1926) * 2003 - Benyoucef Ben Khedda, Algerian politician (b. 1920) *2005 - Ossie Davis, American actor (b. 1917) *2006 - Betty Friedan, American feminist (b. 1921) * 2006 - Myron Waldman, American animator (b. 1908) *2007 - Steve Barber, American baseball pitcher (b. 1938) * 2007 - José Carlos Bauer, Brazilian World Cup footballer (b. 1925) * 2007 - Ilya Kormiltsev, Russian poet and translator (b. 1959) * 2007 - Barbara McNair, American singer and actress (b. 1934) * 2007 - Jules Olitski, Ukrainian-born American abstract painter and sculptor (b. 1922) Holidays and observances *Ancient Latvia - Biezputras Diena observed. *Independence Day in Sri Lanka (1948). *Angolan Anniversary of the Outbreak of Armed Struggle against Portuguese Colonialism. *World Cancer Day Liturgical feasts In the Roman Catholic Church: *Andrew Corsini *Saint Gilbert (d. 1189) *Saint John de Britto *Saint Rembert of Torhout *Saint Veronico February 4 External links * BBC: On This Day * * On this day in Canada ---- February 04